Are you posting, sharing, tweeting, snapping, pinning and gramming?
Does your business have an active presence in the social media scene?
If not, it’s time to get started.
Here are five quick tips on how to make social media work for your business.
Engage your audience – use incentives and engaging posts to connect and interact with customers. Talk to them, not at them by limiting impersonal advertising posts and exploiting engagement tools such as polls and reactions. Make sure you respond to comments and questions and incorporate personality to establish rapport. For more information on finding the right content balance, look up the 4-1-1 rule.
Be active – This may seem obvious however, it is imperative to managing a successful social media platform. Social media moves at a speed only slightly slower than light, meaning that businesses need to post frequently and consistently in order for their account to remain relevant. Have a plan and use the scheduling feature to assist with fostering a theme and posting regularly at the most suitable times for your audience. If you are managing multiple pages or platforms try using a dashboard such as Hootsuite to simplify your marketing efforts.
Measure outcomes – Look further than post engagement and tracking activity. Do you have measureable outcomes associated with what you would like social media to achieve for your business? Develop a set of goals and invest in analytics and tools to measure your performance. Adjust your social media plan and strategies according to the outcomes to ensure increased success in future.
Grow your website traffic – Use your social media platforms to drive traffic to your website. Keep an eye out for opportunities to link your webpage or blog posts to your social media accounts when creating and publishing content. Incorporate your branding softly when possible and ensure your contact information and web address is up to date and correct, making it as simple as possible for customers to find and contact you.
Seek advice – If you are unsure of how to use social media or are overwhelmed by the whole phenomenon, why not ask for help? You may have a team member who is a natural social media whiz or there is always the option to outsource your marketing or social media management. There are local businesses who are experts in this field, who also happen to be members of the Chamber. Why not attend our next Chamber event and introduce yourself to someone from a creative or marketing agency?